Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Of the many things that shocked me concerning Bill Clinton's two terms as president, there is one moment that has always stood out: his clarion call that universal internet access be given to America's school children:

"Now, looking ahead, the greatest step of all, the high threshold of the future we must now cross, and my number one priority for the next 4 years is to ensure that all Americans have the best education in the world.

Let's work together to meet these three goals: Every 8-year-old must be able to read; every 12-year-old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old must be able to go to college; and every adult American must be able to keep on learning for a lifetime." [Excerpt from Bill Clinton's 5th State of the Union Address]

I'm all for literacy and the potential for a college education - but internet access for every 12 year old? This horrific promise of Clinton's continues to haunt us to this day - especially as it continues to be fulfilled in our schools as well as in our culture at large - this has already become a global problem. This article should remind us why it is that Clinton's clarion call has been nothing but a prescription for the corruption of this generation's youth.

Friday, February 06, 2009

The disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was released from house arrest today, despite the fact that in 2004 he admitted to transferring nuclear secrets to "other countries." As you might imagine, the FBI would like to know which countries received such data, and when. This is yet another demonstration that our relationship with the Muslim world cannot be simplified with quaint sayings like: "America is not your enemy." Too many today are seeking the destruction of our nation in the name of Islam, and thus more measured expressions are needed. I fear that our present leaders are all too fearful of offending anyone, and thus they are inclined to speak to our enemies with genteel exhortations like: "unclench your fists." Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the matter with similar platitudes, saying that this matter is "unfortunate" and that she is "very much concerned" by Khan's release. As weak as this is, it may be the toughest communication that we may get. In a White House press conference today, Robert Gibbs responded to this crisis as follows.

Q (Reporter): Is the President concerned that Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan will be a proliferation risk, now that he’s been released from house arrest? And will he renew the US request for him to be interviewed by US intelligence?

A (Robert Gibbs): Uh, obviously we’ve seen the reports of the release, but have not received, uh, have yet to receive official word, uh, from the government. Uh. Obviously this President has made clear, uh, many times, the great concern he has for nuclear proliferation, uh, and, uh, as we hear from the government about, uh, these reports, uh, obviously, uh, the President, uh, and this government want assurances that, uh, that Dr. Khan is not involved or engaged in, uh, any of the activity, uh, uh, that resulted in, uh, in, in his house arrest earlier.

In a vain effort to decipher Mr. Gibbs "response" I decided to endure the task diagramming the above collection of verbs, adverbs, participles and "uh" particles - the word "uh" seems to be growing in value and meaning in the Obama administration these days:

Any sentence can be diagrammed, no matter how strained it may be. All that a diagram reveals is either the clarity or confusion of a speaker. What is not revealed in the above Christmas tree of words is how the president expects to secure "assurances" that Dr. Khan won't be up to his same old tricks once again. Receiving assurances from Khan, or the Pakistani government, would be of little value. Those who participate in clandestine and illegal operations, which endanger the world, do not elicit much in terms of hope and trust.

What the American public may soon learn about leadership is that confidence without character and conviction is both dangerous and confusing. What the Obama administration communicates is not only for our own nation, it is for the entire world - because the world is listening - especially our enemies, and they want to see if there is a clear resolve coming from our present leadership, or if there is uncertainty and fear.

Sadly, the above volley of word-garble communicates the latter rather than the former.

If this does nothing else to your soul, let it drive you to your knees to pray even more earnestly for those who are in governing authority. May God have mercy on our nation.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Barack Obama's first television appearance as president took place on Al-Arabiya TV, where he offered various concessions regarding America's dealings with Muslim nations. Within that interview he stated to the Muslim world - "America is not your enemy." This broad statement is at best confusing, especially in view of the relentless Islamic Jihad that is being waged against our nation. In "The Dangers of Appeasement" video below, we consider why it is that Mr. Obama's concessions are, if anything, dangerous:

For the full video of Al-Ansari, see the video below (this video is unedited and contains explicit video/pictures of holocaust victims):

Final note: ever since Mr. Obama made his concessions on the Al-Arabiya television network, we have seen the enemies of our nation become more and more emboldened. In particular, Iran's president Ahmadinejad demanded an apology from the United States for past crimes, and as well, Iran demonstrated the reality of their global threat by recently launching a satellite. By failing to take these threats seriously, we give America's enemies time to prepare further for their Jihad. Europe has become the world's open experiment concerning the melding of Islam with western civilization, and the results are alarming (content warning [some violence & language]):

Talking about "hope" and "change" may run well in an election with those who are easily swayed by such shallow platitudes - but it is useless when facing real enemies in what is a very real world.